Hyuga Fetish
by Lady1Venus
Summary: Rating may go up. Taken prisoner, Neji needs to trust a total stranger who is a Hyuga he never met before. Together they work to be free from their captors but it isn't that simple when the lives of the village are threatened all because the enemy want Neji for an arousing purpose
1. Chapter 1 Cell Mates

**Hyuga Fetish  
****Chapter 1 – Cell Mates**

Lying on a cold, damp floor was the first thing his body felt as he returned from the realm of darkness. The last thing he remembered was being on a mission with the rest of his team, but was ambushed. During the fight, he was separated from the rest of his team. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea he was being led into a trap as he fought with one person that was until… until something slammed against the back of his head, forcing his knees to buckle and his body to crash into the ground, losing consciousness. What happened after that was a complete mystery for him. But one thing he knew for sure and he didn't need to open his eyes to know it was he was now being held prisoner.

"I see you're finally awake," a voice said.

He wasn't alone. Wherever he was, someone else was in the room. Although with his thoughts were still scrambled and trying to get a grip on what happened, he could not tell if the voice was male or female.

Struggling, he moved his fingers, digging his nails into the dirt floor. The chill of the ground was beginning to seep into his clothing, chilling his body. He went to open his mouth but found his throat to be dry. From hearing the voice from somewhere in the room, he slowly opened his eyes. Several times he blinked, trying to bring focus back into his eyes but all he could see was darkness and something metal ahead of him, which appeared to be rounded and bars like.

"You're not seeing illusions, I'm afraid," the voice said again. This time the sound of the voice was more noticeable. "We are trapped in a darkened cell. What you are seeing is bars and there's barely enough light to really focus too much."

Giving a few more blinks, he was able to make out the voice was correct. Realizing this, he stopped trying to focus so hard. He then went to move his feet only to find a hindrance. Slowly, he moved his head towards his feet, trying to focus on what was preventing his legs from moving freely.

"Your ankles are shackled, preventing usage of chakra. You have enough to sustain your life, but not enough to manage a jutsu."

Seeing again the voice was correct, he groaned, laying his head back down for the moment. Hearing shuffling of feet, his eyes soon focused on a foot as it suddenly came into view. Looking up, he was completely taken by surprise at what he could see. There before him was a young woman, probably no older than himself. He could barely make out her silver like hair but that wasn't really attracted his attention. It was her eyes. Her eyes were the same as his. White pupilless eyes.

She kneeled down, resting a hand around his arm. "Here let me help you," she said kindly. She was surprised when the door to her cell opened, dropping an unconscious man on the floor. She couldn't stop her eyes from rolling, dreading what was about to come for her new cellmate. For a few moments she remained stationed where she was. When she saw he woke, she decided to tell him what he wanted to know before he was to ask.

Too weak to argue the matter, he allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet. Whatever was shackled around his ankles, made a sound as he moved his legs to try and help stand better. He could feel her other arm loop around his waist. Wincing in pain as her hand touched a sore spot, which probably was bruised, he continued to work on getting to his feet. She moved her other arm from his, to drape around her neck as he finally was up on his feet, but barely.

With a little difficulty, she carefully walked him over to where she was sitting which was on the only bed in the cell. She couldn't believe their captors now put him in her cell after all this time of her being in one on her own. Up until recently they left her alone, only using her when they wanted to use her power. But she feared for the young man now in her presence.

She had never met her captors nor ever heard them speak unless it was through some sort of voice amplifier, which made the voice not even sound human. But she could tell her captors were not into women as she had been left well enough alone. They'd give her three meals a day with water to help sustain her life. But any man she had heard become captive, often never was around very long. There were a few guys she shared a cell with but like all the other male prisoners, they were quick to disappear.

She looked up to his eyes, gasping seeing, in dim light that was given from the light outside their cell, he had the same eyes as her. "Are you a Hyuga?" she asked suddenly.

Giving a slight cough, he nodded. "I am…" he rasp. "I'm…Neji…"

Sitting him down on the bed, she reached over to her cup of water she was given. "Here, drink this. It will help with your throat." She brought the cup to his dry lips, which he slightly opened allowing the liquid to slowly slide into his mouth and down his throat. Already he could feel the water was soothing his throat.

Taking the cup back, she looked at him carefully. "My name is Kelina Hyuga."

Neji lightly coughed again. "How is that possible?" he asked, voice less raspy. "Hyugas live in the Konoha village."

"So my father had told me," she replied. "From the story I heard sometime ago, by order of the Third Hokage, a group of citizens were asked to take a trip. A landslide lost those citizens and father said he figured the Shinobi thought we all perished but we didn't. We made it and created a settlement. I was only an infant at the time. A couple years ago, I decided to leave the settlement to find my birth home and to finally tell everyone we were not killed, we are still alive and well."

Neji leaned his head back. He remembered something about his uncle saying a member of the Hyuga clan who was working in the ANBU Black Ops had left the village to travel with a small group of people from the village. The mission was stated classified and were never heard from again.

"Thank you," he said quietly, changing the subject. "How long have I been in here?"

"You were only dropped in here several minutes ago," she answered.

The two suddenly heard a door creek open. Kelina groaned. "Here comes the food… at least it's what they call it. It looks like glop." She gave another groan as the footsteps came closer only to stop in front of their cell. "Just sit here and rest and whatever you don't show you're awake. I have a bad feeling."

She stood, leaving Neji who did as she suggested. She had been in this prison for awhile and knew what to expect. Though the two were practically strangers, he had to trust her in her judgement. When pressed in captive situations, one just had to go with the flow.

"Awake is he?" a gravel voice called out from a person dressed in nothing but a black cloak, hiding their face. Something was covering the person's face in what looked to be like a mask.

"No," Kelina answered. "I was just trying to make him comfortable for when he does awake."

What Kelina could only suspect as a snort, she took one more step forward, looking at the tray in the person's gloved hands.

Seeing the prisoner was looking down, the person in black then pushed a tray of two bowls and two containers of water. Taking the tray, Kelina stepped back. No more words were spoken as the figure turned and walked away, steps getting distant before a door creek opened and then closed again and the area was casted back into silence.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kelina turned, walking back over to the bed, resting the food down on the ground. "That was close."

Neji lifted his head, still quite weak, looking at her. "Mind telling me what is going on?" he asked quietly.

"We are the only prisoners. I've been here a couple years. Every few weeks they pull me out of here and try to study my eyes. I think they are trying to figure the secrets behind my Byakugan. There have been men here, but they have never stayed too long and never seen again."

This brought his attention. "Why would men disappear?"

"I don't know. I have my guesses. I've never been harmed physically nor sexually and I'm sure your smart enough to know female prisoners is not usually a good thing."

He nodded, fully understanding the hidden meaning behind her words. Often enough when women were prisoners they were used as sexual favors. But in Kelina's case, she's been well left alone, which meant whoever was holding them prisoner was not after sexual fun with women. But now what was with the male prisoners disappearing?

"We have to find someway to warn the village," Neji replied.

"There's no way out of here, I've tried. And these shackles prevent us from using the Byakugan," she said, taking a seat beside him once again.

He winced again when taking a deep breath. He clutched his side, leaning forward. "It would seem I have a bruised rib. If I were in the village, one of my friends would be able to heal me easily. She's a good medical ninja."

"Here, let me take a look," Kelina offered.

He looked at her with a stern look; almost as if he was saying don't get any closer. Signing, she knew he would be a bit on the defensive side. Who wouldn't? He was just taken captive after being knocked unconscious.

"Neji, you have no reason to trust me, but I'm sorry to say, you have to trust me. If you are to survive this, you…"

"I've been in worse situations before," he tossed out.

"Situations where you don't know your captors and never do?" She crossed her arms. "Believe it or not, but you need me. I don't know you, but I fear for your safety the last man I shared a cell with, he was taken out within a few days of being here. He was later returned shaking like a leaf only to be taken out a few days later and never was heard from again."

Neji's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yes and when he came back he didn't even want to be near me, babbling on about I'm just a horny bitch. Neji something is going on upstairs and I don't like it. Why would I be left alone other than on the days they want to run more tests on my eyes and each time I'm knocked unconscious but is returned back sometime later with no physical markings or pain. Other than my clothes being dirty, they are perfectly fine."

He sighed. From what he could see of her clothing, she did seem to have a good decent amount of clothing on. "Alright," he finally said with another sigh. "But I'm watching you."

"If I were in your position I would do the same," she said as she kneeled on the ground. With careful hands, she reached for the hem of his shirt. She felt him flinch at her touch, but didn't stop her. Remaining quiet, the shirt lifted up, allowing her to inspect the injury on his ribs. It was a bit difficult to see in the dim light, but it was going to have to do.

As predicted, there was a bit of discolor around his ribs, indicating he did bruise them. Satisfied that's all it was, she lowered his shirt down. Looking to his arms, there were no signs of injury. However, his pant legs were a bit torn, probably from when they shackled his legs.

Getting up, she stepped over to their food, picking up a bowl, handing it to him. "It's gross," she replied finally. "But it's food at least."

He nodded his thanks, taking the bowl. As there was nothing to use to eat the slop with, Neji watched Kelina out of the corner of his eye to see how she was eating it. He observed as her fingers dipped into the glop before giving a sour face, closing her eyes tightly bringing her fingers to her mouth.

Immediately her reaction was completely of disgust as she swallowed. "Ack! God! This is so gross!"

Seeing as there was no other choice, he followed her direction, doing the same as she did with the food. He shivered at the god-awful taste, but said nothing. When he was younger, he would make a face at distaste of the food, but he wasn't a child anymore. He was 17, a Jonin. And Jonins were taught to hold self restraint and it was for that reason in why he was now the first Jonin from his graduation class and even from the graduation class Naruto was from.

* * *

As time ticked on, Neji continued to rest on the bed as Kelina paced back and forth. After the two had eaten, they fell into an awkward silence. Once in awhile Kelina would sneak a glance to Neji. Each time was the same though, head leaned back, eyes closed. Finally stopping, she turned her gaze away from the young man to the bars of their cell.

"I can't take this anymore!" she screamed.

The scream caught Neji's attention as he lifted his head, eyes now on her. He was now curious to the sudden outburst. He watched as she suddenly picked up one of the bowls from dinner, throwing it. It sailed through the air, smashing against the wall on the opposite side.

"What the hell do they want from us!" Tears brimmed her eyes as she crumpled to the floor. "For two stinking years I've been trapped in here!"

His eyes widened. She had been trapped here for two years? He had no idea. She only had said she'd been a prisoner for a while now. That meant she was taken captive shortly after she left her family settlement, wherever that was.

"Why is this happening to me!" Neji blinked as she keeled over, banging her fists on the ground. "I can't stand this! Why did I ever leave home!?"

Carefully getting up, he slowly walked over to her. Kneeling down, resting a hand on her shoulder, he gave her a thoughtful look. "Am I the first ninja who has ever been trapped here since you've arrived?"

Her tears ceased as she looked up at him. She gave a numbly nod. "Yes, but it's hopeless to get out of here, I have tried to break these shackles that bind my chakra."

"Where you're not a trained ninja, you may not know other ways around things," he stated.

Her brows furrowed, not liking his choice of words. "I'll have you know I was trained by the best ninjas in my settlement."

"And who might they be?" he asked.

"ANBU," she replied. "When my people left the village, five ANBU had accompanied them. One of them was my mother."

Neji gave a look of surprise. "You were taught by ANBU?" If she was trained by ANBU, then she had to be good. ANBU were the best of the best.

She nodded. "Why didn't I listen to my father?"

Feeling sorry for her, he sighed. "We'll find a way out of here. You may have skills as a ninja though you never went to the academy; you were taught how to be a shinobi. However, you probably haven't had much training outside your settlement. I do have training outside the village as we are given missions to help hone in our skills and learn how to deal with certain situations."

Looking at him for a few moments, he was new and was a trained ninja. He was right on one thing; he was better trained than she was. She remembered her teachers telling her normally shinobi went through a school for six years. "I suppose a fresh set of eyes doesn't hurt," she finally agreed. "I've been here for two years and found nothing. Of course I'm not as experienced as you since I've been a prisoner since shortly after leaving my village."

He glanced around. "I know for a fact my friends will come looking for me and you can bet Naruto will be hyper as always, trying to come to my aide?"

"Naruto?"

"A loudmouth knucklehead," he answered. "And knowing him, if he were here, he'd be yelling, telling you not to give up and he would be damn sure to find a way out and he wouldn't care if he couldn't use his chakra, he'd find another way."

"Wow," she blinked. "Sounds like some kid."

"More than you know." He then sighed again, fighting back another wince from his ribs. "Naruto will spew out saying helping others is his 'ninja way'. He wants to one day become Hokage.

"From what I've been told being Hokage is quite a challenge. The Hokage governs the entire ninja village."

"Yes. Our current Hokage is a woman. The first female Hokage, making her the fifth Hokage." His eyes closed or a moment. "Perhaps we should get some rest."

"There's only one bed though," she said.

"What did your other cell mates do?" he asked.

"One of us would sleep on the cold floor."

"With the dampness in the ground, neither one of us would last too long on the floor. We may have to take our chances with the bed."

"But…" she gasped.

"As you said," he defended. "We need to trust each other as much as neither one of us want to. We'll figure a way out of here."

He stood, walking over to the bed. He saw there was a blanket, which would cover the two of them. She got up from the floor and slowly walked over to him, watching to see what he was going to do. To her surprise, he sat on the bed, scooting over to the far side, against the wall.

"Can't believe this is happening," she breathed as she sat on the bed, nervous.

"I don't like it any better," he said. "But there's nothing else we can do and judging from the temperature of this dungeon, I would presume we're in for a cold night. And body heat will help the both of us."

She gave a nod while a shiver went up her spine at the mention of colder temperatures. Last night she was freezing and couldn't get warm. This time she would have something to keep her warm, another body. Carefully lying down as the two were going to have to also share pillows, her body shivered again. This time it was because of his movement. He draped the blanket as best as he could around the both of them without irritating his ribs.

"Good night, Kelina," Neji replied.

Her breath hitched in her throat, hearing his voice so close to her. "Good night, Neji," she replied back, surprised her voice didn't crack due to her nerves.

Trying to give her as much space as possible, but needing to be close for warmth, he laid his head on the same pillow, working out several schemes in his head. He wished Shikamaru were there and then he would have figured a plan. The young man was a strategist but from being around the lazy Chunin, he did learn a few tricks. Before the two could get out, he had to first figure out who was holding them prisoner without getting too close. He did not like Kelina's statement about what happens to men.

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to finally fall prey to the darkness that had been plaguing his mind since eating that god-awful food. The stuff tasted horrible. He had no idea how long he could deal with something like that. Poor Kelina. She had been dealing with it for two years now. Well he was going to get her and himself out and that was a promise. Naruto would kick his ass if he didn't try to get out and save the girl.


	2. Chapter 2 MIA

**Hyuga Fetish  
Chapter 2 - MIA**

Former team Gai were sent on an escort mission of a caravan from bandits. The mission was only going take three days then after that, the team were to go back home. After only three bandit attacks, the team was finally able to get the caravan to their destination. With one nights rest, the team had said their farewells, making their way back home to Konoha. They had a three-day journey ahead of them.

The travel back was quiet except for Lee's constant yammering about trying to be the best. Him and Gai kept making little contests, which annoyed Tenten and Neji greatly. But then again that's what they always had to deal with when the four were on a mission together. And though it was annoying, the two often missed the group missions together.

On the third day traveling back, the team were only several hours away from the village but the peaceful journey was ended rather abruptly when suddenly they were ambushed by several unknown dark cloaked figures. Each member was attacked from behind and they were not like the bandits they found during their mission.

The battle was tough and quick, but once using enough chakra, they were able to defeat their foe, whoever they were. Although the battle did seem to be a bit too quick and too easy, almost as if something was a miss. During the battle, one member of Team Gai was separated from the others and never returned. The moment the fight was over, Gai felt something was off, but couldn't place it. He also knew there was a new problem on his hands and needed to report it to Lady Tsunade and fast.

"Oh yes!" Lee shouted, throwing a fist in the air. "Once again we kick butt! There is nothing we can't do!"

"Lee it's not that we kicked butt," Gai intervened. "Having youth will always be an advantaged!"

Lee stopped and looked to the man he admired most. "You're right Sensei. Being young always has its awards!"

"Yes! That's right Lee!" Gai gleamed, giving him a thumb up, showing his sparkling white teeth.

Tenten looked at her Sensei and teammate, rolling her eyes. "Oh, brother. Here we go again. How long will they go this time, eh Neji?" She turned her head, finding Neji nowhere around. "Neji?" She scanned around seeing no sign of her Jonin friend.

"Remember what I told you before. When you go into battle be sure to not brag too much," Gai continued.

"You're right Gai-Sensei!" Lee continued, not realizing his friend was missing. "How could I have forgotten that?"

Tenten suddenly turned around. "Guys!" she called out to them. "Gai-Sensei!"

Gai, hearing Tenten, looked to her. "What's up Tenten?"

"Neji is missing," she explained.

Gai's smile faded, turning into a frown as the feeling of dread wrenched into the pit of his stomach. He took a look around, finding his female student was correct on the matter. Beside him Lee too scanned around and his humor disappeared. Both were now on high alert, in full serious mode.

"So he is," Gai pointed out.

"He was here not that long ago," Lee replied. It wasn't like Neji to disappear. Not with him being a 17-year-old Jonin.

"When we were ambushed, he was fighting with one himself and then two were led away from the main battle," Gai answered. "Perhaps we should go take a look in case he needs our help. He is a capable fighter after all, but it never hurts to look out for your teammates. Neji is a Jonin now, after all." In the back of his mind worry was setting in. Yes, the Hyuga man was a Jonin and capable of taking care of himself, however the young man hadn't been a Jonin for too long. He's only had one serious mission since becoming a Jonin.

The team set off in search of their missing friend. For an hour they searched but came up emptied handed. The more time went the more Gai seemed to worry. The foes they fought were not the normal run of the mill attackers. These people knew what they were doing and by their fighting styles they were ninjas. But them wearing dark cloaks and their faces were well hidden; no one could tell what village they resided from or even if they were male or female. None of them spoke.

"Nothing," Lee finally said, worried.

"Same here," Tenten agreed. "I'm worried."

Gai remained silent as he stared at a certain spot on the ground, giving off signs of what looked to be a struggle. "What does that look to you?" he suddenly asked. Both team members looked at each other and then to where Gai-Sensei was pointing.

Lee jumped over, inspecting the spot better. "It would appear there was a brief fight here."

"Exactly!" Gai announced.

Tenten gave a ghostly look. "Neji…" She carefully stepped over and began to inspect the ground. She wasn't looking long when she found a black forehead protector with the Leaf village symbol. There was only one who owned that. "Neji's forehead protector!"

Lee looked up. "What does that mean!?"

Gai took a deep breath, the wrenching gut feeling he was having for the past several minutes suddenly turned into dread. "It would appear Neji was taken captive, but he didn't go without a fight. And him losing his forehead protector proves that."

"Neji… taken… he wouldn't let that happen!" Lee defended, getting angry. "He's got the Byakugan."

"This is true," Gai agreed, "However, you know yourself he does have a blind spot and if someone is attacking him from the front, he may not have time to dodge from behind."

"What now then?" asked Tenten, hoping they weren't going to give up. "We can't just abandon Neji. He's a comrade, our team member."

"We go back and inform Lady Tsunade in what has happened," Gai answered. "She's the one who can do something. What has happened is completely out of our hands. Lee. Tenten. Let's go and we move as fast as humanly possible."

"Right! To save Neji!" Lee voiced.

Keeping the forehead protector clutched in her fist, Tenten sighed. She knew there was no arguing with her Sensei about the matter. He was right, it was out of their hands and they didn't have the necessary manpower to search for Neji. Quietly, she grabbed her things and soon the three were using their best possible speed back to the village.

* * *

Immediately upon returning to the village, Gai and his team went straight passed the guards, Kotetsu and Izumo, not bothering to have small talk with the Chunins and went straight to the Hokage tower. Both men at the gate were perplexed why the team rushed through, saying they couldn't talk. There was one thing both noticed, Neji wasn't with them and for the young man not be with them, something had to be wrong.

No words had to be spoken as the team entered the Hokage's office. Tsunade only had to glance up, opening her mouth to speak, to see one was missing… Neji. He was an excellent fighter and would not go against protocol and Gai would not leave a comrade by himself, especially when one was once his own student. Her mouth snapped shut realizing the team barged in to tell her something was wrong.

"What happened?" she demanded, finding her voice.

"First of all, the mission was a success," Gai began. "However, on our way back, just hours walk from the village, we were ambushed by enemy in black."

"Enemy in black?"

"We don't know who they were," Gai continued. "Just that they were wearing cloaks, covering their faces and have no idea if they were men or women. What we do know is they are well trained ninja but from which village, again unknown."

"We were separated from Neji during the attack and when we went to see where he went off to, we found this," Tenten said, showing Neji's headband.

Tsunade clenched her teeth. This was bad. An unknown enemy took Neji captive. "What else can you tell me?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Lee replied. "They never spoke either and like Gai-Sensei just said we couldn't see their faces."

"Not only their faces," Gai added. "But also their chakra and their entire bodies."

"They sure fought like men," Tenten pointed out. "But it was weird though. I've fought with real ninjas before and never have I fought one with as much skills as any Jonin here in the village but also they didn't fight at their full strength either."

"Care to elaborate on that?" asked Tsunade intrigued by this but only to get to the bottom of it.

"It was as if…" Lee paused, thinking. "Like we were a distraction of some kind."

"That does seem plausible," Gai agreed. "Fight us but only to distract us long enough for something, but what?"

"To capture Neji?" Tenten offered, fearing for her friend now. Why would someone want Neji? Was it because of his Byakugan? But he wasn't the only Hyuga clan member to be a ninja. There were many including Neji's own cousin, Hinata, the Hyuga's heir. If anything one would think Hinata would be the target, unless Neji was just the bargaining chip for Hinata.

"But why Neji?" questioned Lee.

"That's what we have to find out," replied Gai.

With furrowed brows, Tsunade contemplated on what to do. She listened to everything Team Gai had to say and she didn't like it one bit. Whatever the reason for taking Neji, it did not bode well for anyone involved. And being the Hokage, Tsunade could not let one of her own people be taken and just be forgotten. They had to do something and quick before the trail got cold.

"Gai, assemble a search team at once. And be sure to have Kakashi join you. His ninja hounds may be able find something. Also be sure to get a member of the Hyuga clan. Their Byakugan may also be of use. We have to find Neji and fast. And I won't rest until he's found."

"Yes, ma'am," Gai said. If the situation were different, he would have taken great pleasure on the idea of being team leader of the mission since Kakashi will be with them. But he felt no joy in the idea. He wanted his former student back. And if getting his eternal rival to help, then so be it.

Kakashi wasn't that bad and he was actually a good friend. But it was something Gai always had with the man since the two were kids. He was always envious of Kakashi for becoming Jonin by the age 14 and the guy graduated after only one year attending the academy.

* * *

At the main gates to the village, Gai's team assembled. There before him was Kakashi, Lee, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto Sai and Sakura. He wanted Sakura in case they would find Neji injured. Hinata was his choice for the long-range sight. Naruto ended up going because he was quite upset on the idea one of his friends was missing and he wasn't going to take no for an answer. As far Sai, Kakashi recommended him for additional tracking Hinata wouldn't be able to look for.

"It's good to see everyone has assembled," Gai began.

"Gai-Sensei," Sakura said. "What is this about?"

"You haven't heard?" Naruto blinked. "Neji's missing."

Her eyes widened and she snapped around to Tenten. She knew the girl had feelings for the young Hyuga man. "I'm sorry."

"And that's why I asked you here," Gai said. "Your medical training could become useful."

"Gai, explain to us what happened," Kakashi said. Kakashi was already debriefed on Neji's disappearance but didn't know the full extent on what happened.

For several minutes Gai explained to the new added members to the team being ambushed after their mission had ended. With the explanation, he had to explain how they were ambushed and what their assailants were dressed like. He even explained how no one knew of Neji's disappearance until after the battle was over and when they were able to track down the last location Neji was at, his forehead protector was left behind.

Naruto clenched his fist. "What are we waiting?! Lead us to where this happened Bushy-brow Sensei. We'll get Neji back and that's a promise and I never go back on my word!"

"Oh, Naruto…" Hinata breathed. She was worried about her cousin even though the two didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things until the last three years. She could remember how much of a hate on he had for her but eventually learnt to forgive after learning his father sacrificed himself on his own terms to protect the Hyuga clan.

"I'm a bit confused as to why I'm here," Sai said.

Kakashi looked to his teammate. "I suggested you. Your ninja art jutsus could come in handy."

Naruto snapped around. "Yeah! Especially your mice. They can get to places no one else can."

"Naruto is correct," Kakashi continued. "Once Gai leads us to where Neji last was, we'll begin our search there."

"Kakashi," Gai interrupted. "The battle we had was very strange. They didn't even put up too much of a fight."

Kakashi looked to Gai's other students. Lee silently nodded in agreement.

"I totally agree with that," Tenten agreed. "The one who fought me actually was just keeping me distracted. Every time he would engage me, he could back away at the last minute and then try attacking from different angle only to again back away. But you could tell they were skilled fighters. Couldn't see their faces but they were watching our every move."

"You too Tenten?" blinked Lee. "I too had the same thing. It was really bugging. Engage, retreat, engage, retreat. Somewhere along the way Neji must have disappeared then cause soon the one who attacked me seemed to fight a little tougher and then suddenly vanish just as I landed a kick on him."

"Doesn't sound like anything I've ever encountered before, even when I was in the ANBU," Kakashi stated, fingering his chin. This was definitely a complex issue.

"Gai!" called Tsunade as she and Shizune approached the gates. "Is your team fully assembled?"

Gai turned to the older woman. He had often marvelled how beautiful she looked even for someone over the age of 50. Like everyone else, he knew she was using a jutsu to cover her true age. "Yes. We are getting ready to set off."

"Good. I wish you luck. I want you to return in two days to give me a report," replied the fifth Hokage.

"What if we can't find Neji by then?" asked Lee in a look of slight fear of abandoning a search of his fellow friend.

"I will have another team ready to pick up where you left off. We will find Neji, but for now we have do it in shifts," Tsunade commanded. "Now, go! Find Neji and bring him back safely!"

"Yes ma'am!" everyone called out as they turned to Gai who then turned away and jumped off to the trees, taking the lead to where the battle took place.

* * *

Just like leaving the area to return back to the village, it took some hours to return back to the place the ambush took place. Gai pointed out where the ambush started before continuing to where Neji's forehead protector was found. Kakashi surveyed the area, taking in everything he could see. He knew searching wasn't going to work for much longer as it was soon going to be nightfall. But they couldn't wait until daybreak as for every hour Neji was gone, the trail was going to start turning cold. Searching was going to be tough.

Being a master of searching, thanks to his past as being an ANBU black ops, Kakashi was given command to lead the search as Gai supervised. He was too close to the situation but had to at least be team leader to show where the fight took place.

Kakashi then had Hinata activate her Byakugan to try and find any chakra trails that might have been left behind. While she did that, Kakashi and Sai survey the battlegrounds. The others, for the moment, had split up, searching for any clues as to the whereabouts of Neji. Gai was the only the only who remained with Kakashi, watching from the sidelines.

"Anything?" Gai asked.

"Nothing conclusive," replied Kakashi as he stood from studying the ground. Whatever took place; he guessed Neji never stood a chance. What footprints that were revealed were not showing any signs the battle lasted long. Giving a guess he would imagine probably less than five minutes alone and Neji was ensnared in the trap. He guessed someone caught Neji on his blindside. "Sai, how about you?"

"Nothing of too value," the young man answered. "However, I do believe I may have found a clue as to what direction the assailants escaped off to."

Both Jonin men looked to each other before making their way over to the pale man. "What makes you say that?" asked Gai.

"Judging by these prints," Sai said, pointing to a couple footprints. "One seems more imprinted than the other, showing it was heavier. The person was probably the heaviest…"

"That or was carrying an unconscious body," Kakashi deduced. "For the sake of argument, if this is the trail that led them away from here and one of them was carrying Neji, from which angle did they attack from?"

"One was attacking Neji when we were first ambushed, which led the foot prints to here," Gai offered. "But from what I could see, there was only one at the time. But you're saying there was more than one who left from here, which presumes Neji was ambushed himself by more than one."

"It would appear to be the case." Kakashi bit his thumb and suddenly slammed his palm on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" He lifted his hand just time for a small Chinese pug dog to appear, wearing a forehead protector on its head and wearing what looked to be a blue vest.

"What can I do for you Kakashi?" the dog spoke.

"Pakkun," Kakashi said. "We could use your help. Neji has gone missing and evidence points in the direction he was taken prisoner and fled the scene."

Pakkun looked around the place. "And it would seem your presumptions are correct. Let me guess, you would like me to see if I can track their scent."

Kakashi gave him an eye crinkle. "That would be the idea," he said. He turned to Hinata. "Hinata, have you found anything yet?"

"Nothing, sir." She turned to the tall man. "I'm not picking up anything, not even chakra signals. One would think chakra trails would remain even nearly half a day gone since the attack."

"They were wearing cloaks, concealing their identities," Gai stated. "Perhaps it also obscures their chakra as well."

"That is highly possible," Kakashi agreed. "Sai, why don't you head over to where Gai said the ambush first took place and try your tracking to see if you can track down on where the ambush came from."

"Will do." Sai knelt down on the ground, pulling out a scroll. It was what he used to make his jutsu. He quickly drew up a sheet full of painted mice. "Ninja arts. Ninja beast scroll!" Just then the mice suddenly came to life, pulling off the page.

"Follow me," he commanded as he rushed off in the direction where Gai said the fight started. His mice followed suit.

Naruto, Sakura, Tenten and Lee soon arrived back.

"Did you guys find anything?" asked Gai.

Naruto shook his head. "We've found nothing in the trees. Not even a single branch was disturbed."

Kakashi looked to the young man, hosting the ninetails spirit within. "That would mean they didn't take to the trees like normal ninja. They would have gone on foot, but the question is where would they have gone."

"This search is getting more puzzled by the moment," Tenten sighed.

"If Neji were here, he'd probably want to look at this in a different angle," Lee pointed out.

"But Neji isn't here," Naruto said.

Sakura clenched her fist before stepping over to her friend, clubbering him in the head. "Will you quit it! You don't have to point out the obvious!"

"OW! Sakura…" Naruto's reaction was immediate. The instant her fist connected to the back of his head, he was nearly knelt to the ground, holding the back of his head. Strange part was holding one's head wasn't going to take the pain away any less, yet it was always an automatic reaction.

Kakashi glanced over at his two former students before deciding to ignore them like he often did when the two would act like that. He couldn't blame either one. Sakura was impulsive with her yelling and being taught by Lady Tsunade doesn't help. For Naruto the young man was often clueless to just about nearly everything when it came to ones feelings or being discreet.

Gai looked to Tenten and Lee. "Why don't you two follow with Sai and help him out with the search there."

Tenten nodded. "Where did he go?"

"He's gone to where we were ambushed," Gai answered.

Lee looked to Tenten. "Maybe he can find something we missed." Tenten nodded to her friend and the two quickly set off towards where it all began.

Naruto and Sakura looked at one another and then to Kakashi and Gai. Sakura stepped forward, looking to her team leader. "Gai-Sensei? Since it's getting on dark, searching for clues is going to become hindered, therefore Neji will get even further away from us."

Kakashi's one eye settled its gaze on his former student as she began to speak. He marvelled at her strength and admired her intelligence.

Gai held up his hand to the pink haired girl. "I know what you're thinking. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done except to find clues that could lead us to Neji. Where ever Neji is, he's probably already where our new foe's hideout is."

"Sakura," Kakashi turned fully to her. "We're not going to give up on Neji, even if the leads turn cold. We'll still continue. Right now, we need to keep a positive mind that we'll find him. Yes, we will have to stop for the night and sleep in shifts and tomorrow pick up where we left off. What will happen, is the longer it takes us to find anything to help us, just will be that much longer before we find Neji."

"And pray that he's still in one piece," Gai added. "Sakura. Why don't you and Naruto go and set up camp?"

"What!?" Naruto blurted. "You can't be serious!"

"Naruto," Sakura groaned. "Gai-Sensei is our team leader and Kakashi-Sensei is right. There's not much we can do right now and it's getting on dark. We can work better after some rest and it's fully daylight." She reached over, grabbing her friend's arm, using her strength to pull him back. "Come on, might as well make ourselves a little useful. We've done all we can tonight. Our tracking skills aren't the best."

Pakkun looked up to Kakashi. "Well if there's nothing else, I'll be off and report back in a bit."

"Thanks Pakkun," Kakashi replied, watching as both former students walked one way as his little ninja hound took another direction. He had a pretty good idea who Tsunade would set out for the next set of searchers. She would probably sent Shikamaru, using his mind to strategize in what might have happened. As well as get Shino and Kiba. Their tracking skills were quite remarkable. He could even imagine Ino being on the team as well as she was also a trained medic ninja.


	3. Chapter 3 Past

**Hyuga Fetish  
Chapter 3 - Past**

_Notes: Just a little word of warning, there's a little tearjerker moment in the chapter, but it's essential. May need a tissue._

In the cramped space of sleeping, was quite an uncomfortable sleep, but no worse than sleeping on the hard ground during missions. However, that wasn't the case this time. This was not a mission, at least not anymore. This was a hostage situation with a fellow cellmate who was a strange female. That female happened to have the same eyes but he never knew her. Her story was a little farfetched in his opinion. Who in their right mind would send a pregnant Hyuga or any woman for that matter, on an assignment? It just wasn't ethical. But being who he was and the past he was dealt with, he had learnt not to judge people until learning everything. He did that once to his own cousin, which wasn't even here fault.

Feeling a shift, a sharp pain went through Neji's side, reminding him he had wounded ribs. He tried to block out the pain, but being in the confine space, that wasn't going to happen. "Can you please move?" he asked, not wanting to whimper.

Remembering, Kelina jumped off the small bed. "Oh I'm sorry!" she squeaked.

The moment she was away from his body, his body rolled to lie on his back. "Damn it," he cringed.

Kelina moved back over to the bed. She rested her hands against his ribs. "From sleeping in the one position, really irritated your ribs." As her fingers brushed against his side, she felt one of the ribs was poking out further than normal. "Damn, you popped one."

She looked around for something to use to help him. She had to pop the bone back into place but it was going to be painful.

"No…" he groaned.

She turned back to him. "No? No what?"

"I'm a shinobi," he grounded. "I will not use things to help the pain. Just push it back into place and I'll bear the pain."

"Are you sure?" she asked, hesitating.

He grasped her hand, holding it tightly. "Yes," he hissed. "I'm not fragile, unlike your other previous cellmates. I can handle the pain."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Ok…" she breathed.

With her hand on his side, she felt him take a deep breath, holding it in. He was waiting for her to push. Her hands felt around the bone, seeing how much it was really pulled out. Once satisfied it wasn't too bad, she then pushed, hard, against the bone, pushing it back into place.

The breath he was holding flew out of him as he howled in pain. His outburst only lasted a few seconds before going silent. If it weren't for his heavy breathing, Kelina would have thought he passed out from the pain. But like he already reminded her a few times, he wasn't an average human. He had stamina to deal with pressure and pain. She knew he was only young, which meant he was taught at a very young age how to deal with problems regular civilians couldn't handle.

She was taught by ANBU, however since they didn't have the proper equipment to teach her and anyone else who wanted to learn, she didn't have as high tolerance for pain and other problems he's had to deal with until now. With the thought of her family, her hands moved away from Neji's ribs, sadness consuming her.

"I wish to go home," she lightly whimpered, not realizing she was heard.

Neji slightly turned his head. "Then, why did you leave?" he whispered.

She turned to him with a frown. Snorting, she stood, wrapping one arm around herself, stepping away from the small bed. "Like you could really understand," she said. "I lived 14 years of my life in a small settlement in caves, having to learn how to hunt and survive the harsh weather conditions."

She snapped around to him, seeing he was slowly sitting up, clenching his side. "But you would never be able to understand that. How could you? You lived your entire life in the Leaf village, surrounded by loved ones and friends. The only friends I have are those who were born after me and they were still just kids. Out of 25 people and four ANBU, there are only five children, excluding myself."

Neji leaned his head against the wall after getting up fully in a seating position. He listened to everything she said. She still didn't explain why she left though. "But why did you leave?"

She clenched her firsts. "Why? Because I wanted to find the rest of my family. I wanted to find the village the parents of the children came from so we could belong again."

His eyes slid open, giving her a hard stare. "You say there's four ANBU living in your settlement, why didn't they try returning?"

Wanting to scream but knew she couldn't for fear of bringing down the guards, she gave a frustrated growl, stepping over to the wall, furthest away from the man she shared her cell with. She leaned against the wall, a little too hard. Ignoring the pain, she leaned down, folding her knees as she went. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she leaned her head against her legs.

"When I was still in my mother's womb, an expedition was sent out. It was a very secretive group. No one was given an explanation why. When the group left, they left in the middle of the night with no note saying they were leaving or even a good bye to their friends and family. They had put their trust into the Third Hokage to give messages to their friends and family. The expedition was only to last a little while and then we would return. However, things did not turn out that way…"

[Flashback]

In the dead of the night, 25 people left the safety of the Hidden Leaf village. All were wearing dark cloaks to cover their leave. With them were five ANBU members, one was very pregnant woman and would give birth any day. But she was asked to go on that very specific reason as her child was one many would not like as she was secretly seeing someone her family would not have approved of.

"Are you alright?" one of the ANBU asked to the pregnant woman.

She looked to her friend. "Yes. Thanks."

The hidden ANBU man gave a short nod and continued walking, keeping a close eye on the woman. People who were leaving were wearing a dark mask, concealing their face from view. The Hokage himself ordered the cloaks and masks. He would not give an explanation as to why he chose the people he did and he would not tell anyone who the chosen people were.

Everyone was already dutiful informed those who would notice their absence would simply be told they were sent on a secret mission, which wasn't far from the truth. There was one thing he did know though one of them was pregnant and he had her go with the expedition group to protect her from harm. There were a few people who would disapprove of her child and he didn't want to deal with a problem like that. He was already going to have problems with people asking why did their friends leave when just a few months ago the village was attacked by the Nine-tails.

The small group, each carrying a backpack of clothes and food while there was a small caravan for sleeping supplies and enough supplies to last them a couple months while gone, continued on, making their way past the gates, getting further and further away from the village.

Once resting for a few hours just as dawn approached, the group continued on, continuing to wear their cloaks, not wanting to be seen by travelers who may see them as Konoha villagers. The group weren't exactly sure where they were going or for how long they would be gone for. All they knew for sure was the Hokage had wanted them to leave. If anyone were to ask, they were sent out on a fact-finding mission that was top secret.

Two days into their journey, the group found themselves in a huge predicament. From the time they woke to begin their travels for that day, it had began to rain and it was not the normal type rain, this was a major downpour, creating difficulties in moving the caravan. The group were moving through a gully when suddenly the ground at their feet began to shake.

"What's going on?" asked the pregnant woman as she clutched the first thing her hands could grab.

"Not sure." The ANBU beside her wrapped his arms around her. "Kelina, hold on!"

Since the group left, the pregnant woman known as Kelina was always walking with the ANBU at the back of the group. She wanted to be up by the man who was the father of her child but he was leading the group.

"LANDSLIDE!" a man yelled suddenly.

The four ANBU plus Kelina looked up at the shout. Kelina gasped in fright. They only had a matter of seconds to get out of crossfire before they'd be crushed.

"MOVE!" the ANBU holding Kelina shouted. He carefully tightened his hold on the woman as the group suddenly went at a run, trying to get to safety.

It was literally a race against time to get everyone to safety but with the muddy ground, it was proving to be most difficult. With the ANBU bringing up the rear, three of them stopped as the fourth continued with Kelina. The wind was building up around everyone, forcing some of their cloaks to fall of their heads, revealing the masks. The ANBU were wearing their normal masks.

The three stood side by side and with practiced ease, they each were quick to make hand signs. Over the rush of the wind and oncoming landslide, no one could hear their jutsu command. Straight up from the ground, the ground began to move, creating a trench, just in time for the landslide to hit the ground.

The ANBU continued to hold their last hand sign as more earth built up around the landslide, creating a wall of dirt as well as deep trench. Higher and higher it went, lessening in the howling wind. The caravan stopped their running to witness their survival. The wall of mud climbed high up the gully reaching the very top of one side. Everyone was now safe, but now there was a new problem. How would they get back home when the Third Hokage would seek them out? This was not good.

The three ANBU looked at one another.

"The messenger bird was trapped in that," spoke a female voice

"Damn, that means Lord Hokage may think we perished and there's no way around that," replied a male voice.

"We can't worry about that now," a second male said. "We have to protect these people. They're not all ninjas."

The one holding Kelina looked at his other comrades. "Lord Hokage had made sure to send out one of each element jutsu user. We'll just have to teach them how to defend themselves better. I think…"

Kelina cringed in sudden pain as she nearly fell to her knees if not for the man holding her up. Her hands, on reflex, wrapped around her swollen belly. The other remaining ANBU swiftly turned in her direction.

"What's wrong?" the female asked.

"I don't know…" Kelina hissed. "It's like… AAHHH!"

One of the remaining cloaked members the ANBU were protecting ran up to them. The person said nothing as he placed a hand on Kelina's belly. The person felt around a few moments before looking up to the four ninjas. "It would appear she's gone into labor," the person said, removing his mask.

"Labor?" Kelina breathed. "No. I'm still a couple weeks away."

The man shook his head. "Yes, this is true. But in the conditions we're in right now and the fact we just had a major life-threatening scare, the startlement has placed you into premature labor. We have no choice, we must deliver now."

"We have to get her out of the rain," announced the ANBU holding her all the while Kelina continued to keel over in pain.

"What's going on?" asked another person with the group.

Kelina gave another howl of pain as she finally collapsed to the ground.

"Kelina!" shouted the man as he rushed to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"She's gone into labor. You're a fire user, aren't you?"

The man looked up to the one who informed the ANBU Kelina was in labor. "I am. Why?"

"We need to get her somewhere dry to deliver the baby and your fire jutsu may be what we'll need to help."

The three ANBU who created the trench, again took positions side by side, doing hand signs before calling out a jutsu. "Earth Style! Earth Crater!"

Holding their hands in place, a hole in the side of the rock face in the gully began to push inward, but as the rock crushed in, the walls were becoming unstable. The man at Kelina's side stood, doing a few hand signs.

"Fire Style! Fire ball Jutsu!" He blew fire from his mouth, aiming it at the walls, using the fire to create a better secure wall. The molten rock was soon hardened, giving a small amount of space for Kelina to be taken inside out of the rain.

The man holding Kelina carefully walked her over to the dry spot. He looked to the man who was worried. "You're the father aren't you?"

"I am," he said.

"Osaski," Kelina whimpered. "I'm scared."

Osaski rushed over to Kelina, helping her inside. He then ran to the caravan grabbing the driest blankets he could find and ran back to the man made cave. Inside the cave were the medic, Kelina, Osaski and one of the other ANBU. The one ANBU was asked to get in behind Kelina. Before she was forced to sit, Osaski rested a blanket on the ground for her to sit on.

No sooner was Kelina on the blanket when suddenly she felt her entire body get wet again. "Ah! My water just broke!"

"Damn!" the medic blurted. "We don't have time to do much." Being the only medic, he had to take another blanket and put it over top of her so he could remove her lower part of the clothing. The baby was coming and there was no time.

It took several minutes to get everything ready that was needed. Osaski was beside his girlfriend holding her hand while the ANBU remained behind her, bracing her in a slightly sitting position. The only other one in the 'cave' was the man who was going to birth the baby.

For an hour Kelina would scream out in pain because of her contractions and every few minutes they were getting closer and closer together. The medic was very worried about this. Usually contractions wouldn't get close together until a bit later. But this was all happening too soon and this was Kelina's first child.

Kelina screamed again as sweat developed on her face. Her boyfriend, Osaski was completely worried. He could see something was wrong, but he didn't want to voice it.

Finally the medic got between her legs, hoisting her legs up a little further. He could tell the contractions were now close enough together it was time to deliver. "Kelina. I want you to listen to me very carefully," he said.

Kelina looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "What is it?" she painfully moaned.

"It is now time to deliver the baby. On the next set of contractions, I want you to push."

"But…"

Osaski looked to his girlfriend. "Our baby is about to be born. You have to push." He didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know he had to give her encouragement.

She took a few deep breaths before giving him a nod. This was going to be it. Her first-born would soon be born. Not in a good place considering they were trapped around a landslide in a manmade cave while it was raining out where everyone was still soaking wet. She and three others were the only ones who were in a dry area.

"I feel it!" she squealed suddenly as she felt another sharp pain erupt from her body.

The medic repositioned himself so his hands were right near her opening for the baby to come out. "Push!" he commanded.

Holding her breath, she did as she was instructed and began pushing. The female ANBU behind her positioned herself to hold Kelina better as the woman began to scream as she pushed. Osaski's hand went into a death grip from Kelina's own hand.

The medic continued to command her to push as he began to see the baby's head, but he didn't stop telling her to stop pushing. Once the baby's shoulders would come out, then the whole infant would easily slide out. However, there was an issue developing and there was no way to stop it, Kelina began to bleed and the more she pushed the more blood formed on the blanket below her.

The ANBU surrounding around the four were also noticing the trouble. They had surrounded around the cave, preventing the other members of the expedition group from seeing what was going on, though they could hear the screams. A few asked what was going on and they would get for an answer was 'stay back'. They were completely left in the dark.

Soon enough the shoulders finally were freed and the medic was able to finish sliding the baby out. The baby's first cry rang out as one of the ANBU stepped forward with a kunai in hand, cutting the Umbilical cord.

"It's a girl!" the medic announced.

"A girl!?" blinked Osaski as his hand was finally let go.

Kelina weakly smiled as her body went limp. "A girl," she whispered.

The medic could see the blood was still coming out and he knew there was nothing he could do for her. They didn't have the right equipment to prevent her from bleeding out. She was going to be dead in a matter of minutes. The other ANBU knew this too. Osaski on the other hand, stepped away from Kelina to see the blood. His eyes widened as he turned his attention to the medic who was using what he could to clean up the baby and be sure the airways were clear.

Once the baby was cleaned up, the female ANBU moved away from Kelina, grabbing another blanket offering to wrap the baby up. "Here," she said and then stepped out in the rain.

Osaski blinked. "What's…"

The medic shook his head. "It's too late. We only have minutes. I don't have what we need to save her," he whispered to him. "Take the infant and spend what little time you have with her."

Osaski looked to Kelina as her head weakly turned to one side. Taking his newborn daughter, he walked over to Kelina.

"Dear, meet our daughter?"

The others who were in the cave made their exit, giving the couple a moment to bond with their child for the first and only time. Kelina had no idea what was happening. To her she thought it was normal to feel so weak after having a baby. She had no idea she was bleeding to death as she breathed, slowly lifting her arms to hold her baby girl.

"She's beautiful," Kelina said.

"She is," Osaski said, trying to smile but tears filled his eyes instead. He gained a daughter only to lose his girlfriend, the only woman he ever loved. But now he had a job to do and that was to raise their daughter. He could clearly see his daughter had her mother's eyes. At least he would have a small reminder of his beloved Kelina.

"What shall we name her?" Kelina asked, getting tired as she fought to keep her eyes open.

"I have the perfect name for her," Osaski said. "We'll name her after you. Kelina."

"That's…so…sweet…" Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment. "I'm so… tired."

Osaski's tears fell down his cheeks as his girlfriend's eyes closed again. "Get some rest," he said, forcing down the crack in his voice. "When you wake we'll continue on our journey."

"Ok," Kelina said as her head tilted again. The arm wrapped around little Kelina, slid from the little bundle to fall at her side.

Osaski, crying, took his daughter out of now deceased girlfriend's arms. He cuddled the baby against his chest as he stepped out in the rain, taking his daughter away from the site of her mother. The girl would never know her mother but she would sure as hell know her in spirit by stories.

[End Flashback]

Hearing her story, Neji felt a little sorry for her. She grew up with her father but not a mother. She never knew her mother. He somewhat could relate to her. He lost his mother when he was a baby and his father when he was just small little kid. He was literally raised by his family. But he wasn't the only one. Naruto grew up with no parents and his cousin Hinata too grew up without a mother basically.

"Sorry," Neji finally said after hearing the whole tale, which her father told her. "I know what it's like to grow up without a mother. I don't even remember my mother and barely remember my father."

"Who raised you then?" she asked.

"The rest of the family. And in time my cousin, will become leader and I'll be under her command. Until such time, I work hard to become as strong as I can be so I can protect her."

"Is that what our clan does?" Kelina was quite surprised by this. "My father never told me anything about mother's clan. Only that she was a Hyuga. He also said Hyugas are a great noble clan."

"They are," he agreed. "Are you the only Hyuga in your little settlement?"

"Yes," she answered. She looked up at him. "Want to know how difficult it is to live in a place where you're the only one with the odd looking set of eyes?"

"Yes, I can see how that can be odd for you," he agreed. "However with my village no one finds anything odd. We have many clans and combined together with civilians, we make a whole village. So tell me, what made you decide then to venture out?"

"Like I said, I wanted to find our home village, your village. You and I are basically family."

Neji frowned. "We are not family. You could belong to a Branch House or even to the Main House. But that doesn't make us related. We're probably related when you go back through the family tree but as close descendants, we are not."

She looked appalled. "Why do you say that? I'm a Hyuga. I have the Byakugan."

He shook his head. "Means nothing. The entire Hyuga clan are family but not all blood related, not anymore. There are many Hyuga who marry Hyuga."

"What does that have to do with anything? I was referring to the idea of perhaps my mother is related to you in some way."

"I highly doubt that," he continued. "No family member of the Branch House has ever been an ANBU Black Ops and you're telling me your mother was one. Only members in the Main House can be." He was getting irritated with the girl before him. He couldn't blame her for the questions but he disliked talking about his family in separate houses. It really pissed him off with the branches.

He had made peace with Hinata about her being the heir and made peace about his father's choices when the man was alive, but that didn't stop him from feeling animosity towards the rest of the clan for creating such a separation. He lived in the Branch House and so came the responsibility of protecting the secrets and protecting the Main House. He felt the entire family should protect everyone and his cursed seal mark shouldn't exist.

He didn't know right off hand if Kelina's mother was part of which House but he had a feeling she belong in the Main. It just didn't make much sense to him why she would leave in the dead of the night, pregnant if she was part of the Branch House. Also, no Branch member ever made it past Jonin level and he had hoped to one day break that and become the first Hyuga Branch member to become a member of the ANBU Black Ops.

"But can't members of the Main House be related to the Branch?" she asked.

"Yes. My uncle, head of the clan, and my father were twin brothers. When uncle had turned three, my father was branded with a curse seal."

"What is the curse seal?" she asked.

Neji lifted his arms, pulling at the white bandaged over his forehead to reveal the mark his uncle had bestowed upon him when Hinata became three years old. "I too was cursed when Hinata, my cousin, turned three."

"That's not fair!" Kelina snapped.

"You think that's bad," Neji continued. "No Hyuga woman is ever given the seal."

"So you don't know if my mother was from your side or not," she argued.

He snorted. "Why are we having this conversation?"

She blinked. "Probably because you don't like the idea of seeing me, knowing I'm a Hyuga you never met. And I bet it's pissing you off, now isn't it?"

His eyes narrowed. "Don't presume to know who I am."

"My thoughts exactly. We both have no idea what part of the family my mother was in. Neither one of us met her. And if you ever did meet her, you would have been too young to remember."

She stood and walked over to the bars of their cell. "Being the only Hyuga but had been told I had other family members was very maddening."

"How so?" he asked, a little curious.

"When I was little…"

[Flashback]

Little Kelina was surrounded by the four ANBU who was teaching her how to do use ninjutsu. Kelina was 10 years old. According to her trainers, she was now equivalent to what the ninjas classified as a Genin. She was now working to the level of Chunin. To become one, she had to learn a new jutsu. She had learnt through her trainers what the real Chunin exams consisted of and they had just tested her on exam one and two. For the third exam, since she couldn't compete against someone to defeat, they were teaching her jutsus and she had a limited amount of time to do it.

"Try again!" one of her male trainers announced.

"Come on!" Kelina whined, nearly out of breath. "I've been trying for three hours straight. Can't we take a break?"

"If we were in the Leaf village you would have already learnt how to activate your Byakugan by now. You have family who don't know you exist."

"I know that!" she yelled. "You already said my mother died giving birth to me and you took the secrets she held in her body so you could teach me with them."

"Then make her proud of you. You are a Hyuga. One day I'm sure they will find us and be surprised to know there's another."

Kelina groaned. It wasn't often she would hear the female ANBU member speak. But when she did, Kelina could hear the hopefulness in her voice. She wasn't sure if the hopefulness were due to the idea of making Kelina proud towards her deceased mother or hopeful they'd be one day found.

Kelina lowered her head. "I hope so. I wish mom had lived."

"We all do," the female ANBU said. "She was one of us and was a great shinobi. She took her job seriously but once she learnt she was pregnant with you, she had to step back."

Kelina could feel herself beginning to get upset. "Why am I the only Hyuga?"

"That is classified," replied one of the male ANBU. "Now let's get back to the topic at hand that's you activating the Byakugan. This is the last part of your test and then you'll be Chunin equivalent."

"You guys make me mad sometimes," she hissed.

Neither one of the four masked trainers said a word as they waited for her to get into position to control her chakra like they had taught her so she could focus on bringing her white eyes to life.

[End Flashback]

Neji was quite surprised in how she explained how she began a ninja. He remembered her telling him she was taught by the ANBU but didn't say how. And now he knew. The ANBU used her heritage as being a Hyuga against her to make her stronger. In a way he didn't feel that was right, but at the same time. They were the only ones who knew the secrets to the Byakugan.

"Can you activate the Byakugan?" he asked suddenly.

"I can," she replied. "At least I could before I was captured."

"What was your range of sight?"

"Not very," she answered honestly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He slightly shifted but then winced. "If you had proper training you probably would have been able to see your attackers."

"Well look who knows everything!" she spat. "Apparently your power did you no good either considering you're here and not with your friends."

His eyes narrowed. "It is hard to fight when you're being ambushed, forcing yourself to remain focused while another comes at you from your blind spot. And I bet from them studying you, they know the blind spot."

She snorted. She opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the doors to the dungeon loudly creaked open. She snapped her attention back over to him.

Seeing the fear in her eyes, Neji winced as he went back into a laying position and closed his eyes, pretending he was asleep. He didn't want to do this but from what she said about the men who were her cellmates for a time, he really didn't want to find out what was really going on.

Moments later, a dark cloaked person arrived with a tray of food. Kelina turned her attention to their visitor with the meal. She silently held out her hands for the food. For a moment, the person paused in giving the food. Kelina, had a feeling they were eyeing Neji. No words were exchanged as the attention was brought back to the food. The young silver haired prisoner took the food and the visitor turned away, leaving the two alone.

Taking the food over to the bed, Kelina pulled up a bowl and handed it to Neji. With the visitor gone, he slowly sat back up, wincing as he went. Silently he took the bowl from her and began eating the distasteful food. It still baffled him, Kelina could manage living in the dingy place for two years and eat the terrible food. Silently the two began to eat.


End file.
